Shirley Hansen Bernhardt

Shirley made her debut at home north of Ault, CO, one of eight children born to Mads C. M. Hansen and Esther (Fletcher) Hansen. She grew up on the family farm and graduated from Ault High School in 1944. Shirley attended Central Business College and then the University of Colorado-Boulder briefly. She discovered, however, that school wasn’t for her and went to work. As a young woman, Shirley worked for the Union Pacific Railroad and the Weld County Motor Vehicle Department.

In 1949, Shirley married Harvey Bernhardt, whom she met a few years earlier while working part-time as a soda jerk at the Ault drugstore. They farmed east of Greeley, and as a farm wife, she became involved in WWW (Worthwhile Workers Home Demonstration Club), serving as President. She went back to work each fall for the UP during beet season. Their daughter, Kim, was born in 1954. When farm income declined in the mid-fifties, Shirley sought employment. She interviewed with Warren Monfort in 1956, who hired her because of her farm background – he assumed she would know the difference between a steer and a heifer. Little did she know that her relationship with Monfort would last 35 years, working for Warren, Ken, and Dick Monfort. She loved her job because every day was different.

Shirley was a charter member of the Centennial Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association and a Life Member of the VFW Auxiliary. She was an avid bowler and traveled to state and national tournaments. A talented seamstress. Shirley made many of her own and Kim’s clothing.

While working and after retirement, Shirley loved to travel. She and Harvey visited Hawaii for their 25th wedding anniversary, and Las Vegas just before he passed away. She thoroughly enjoyed Spain and Morocco, and cruised the Caribbean, Alaska, Mexican Riviera, Hawaiian Islands, and the Panama Canal. Shirley also followed the Broncos with bank trips to Tampa Bay, Boston, Atlanta, and Houston. The bank group also took her on gambling trips each month, although she only played the penny and nickel slots.

When she wasn’t traveling, Shirley volunteered at North Colorado Medical Center for 16 years. She also reconnected with the WWW, although in their later years the club focused on playing cards and eating. She also discovered and joined the Shirley Club, socializing and enjoying lunch with other women named Shirley (the only membership criterion).

Shirley became a grandmother when Kim married Tom Barbour and his two daughters in 1987. She loved the girls and watched them grow into beautiful women with families of their own. She journeyed to Omaha, Frederick, Cheyenne and Pine Bluffs, WY, for weddings, birthdays, and graduations in recent years.

Shirley was the last surviving sibling in her family. Her brothers Dale, Arvid, Norman and Herbert, and sister Arlene, predeceased her, as did their spouses. (Two brothers died in infancy). Her husband, Harvey Raymond Bernhardt, died in 1976.

She is survived by daughter Kim Barbour, and husband Tom of Greeley; granddaughters Courtney Mason (Mike) of Cheyenne, and Carrie Popham (Jason) of Pine Bluffs, WY; great-grandchildren Cailyn, Trenton, Gavin, Delaney and Adrian, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Services will be Friday, March 8 at 2 p.m. at First Congregational Church UCC, 2101 16th Street, Greeley. Private family interment.

Shirley supported multiple charities. To honor her, donations may be made in her name to organizations supporting children or veterans, in care of Allnutt Funeral Services.

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